Volunteer firefighters charged with arson

Three volunteer firefighters in the Wilson County community of Stockdale have been charged with arson after allegedly setting fire to hundreds of bales of hay, a county investigator said Monday.

Ethan Martin, 17, Enrique Duque, 18, and Johnny Jimenez, 18 — all former firefighters in the Stockdale Volunteer Fire Department — could face up to 20 years in prison on the second-degree felony charge.

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Firefighters called to a property southeast of Southlake on the night of Feb. 29 found the hay stockpile on fire, Wilson County investigator Stephen Moore said. They were able to save about 80 but an estimated 200 to 250 bales of hay were lost in the blaze, he said.

Damage to the property amounted to at least $25,000, the investigator said. A Wilson County deputy found no source of ignition like electrical lines at the scene, Moore said.

Law enforcement officers called the three suspects in on March 8 after Moore received a tip that Jimenez had been talking about the incident. The three initially claimed that they had responded to the fire, but later admitted to being on the scene before it started, Moore said.